TWCMH 09

Chapter 09

**To You Who Called Me a Temptress

She had done nothing. She didn’t do anything for anyone, but neither had she ever done anything bad to anyone.

And yet, just because she started emitting a fragrance from her body, she was a witch? Why? Why me?

But a woman worn thin by all kinds of hardship couldn’t possibly resist the strength of grown knights. No matter how much she struggled, she was as powerless as a child before a grown man.

“Ella!”

Dietrich ran to grab his sister as she was being dragged away, but was blocked by Periart.

“Where do you think you’re going, you ill-mannered brat.”

The man carrying a massive hammer on his back glared and subdued Dietrich.

No matter how much Dietrich had built his strength through hunting, it was no match for the seasoned knights.

Dietrich, slammed unceremoniously to the ground, had fury flashing in his eyes. His enraged gaze was as fierce as a wild beast’s.

“And you call yourselves the Holy Knights! Falsely accusing innocent people of being witches! Dragging them away by force like this!”

As if spewing blood, Dietrich suddenly rose and threw a punch. It was unexpected.

With a *thud*, Periart’s bearded head snapped to the side.

“Hah, you little…”

Periart, running his tongue along the inside of his cheek, laughed incredulously. Having been caught off guard and struck on the cheek seemed quite humiliating, and he immediately struck back with a fist like a rock.

*Crack!*

The sound of bone breaking came from that single punch.

Startled, Roelia froze and stared in the direction of the sound, then let out a scream.

“Dietrich!”

His face was drenched in blood, as if the skin had been torn by the massive fist that struck his face.

Seeing her brother’s bloodied form collapsed on the floor, Roelia’s eyes rolled back in fury.

“No, Diet. No!”

The most precious being in the world was being kicked and tossed about by cruel boots. Her brother’s handsome face, which had brought her such joy, was distorted and soaked in blood.

Because of me.

No, because of the strange change I never wanted.

She had fled from that terrible night when her father’s neck had snapped, but misfortune had found her again. As if to say, you can never escape this fate, it frustrated and bound her.

It was unfair. This wasn’t right.

But it was frustrating and saddening that she had no power to fight against this unfair, wrongful oppression and violence.

“Don’t hit him! Don’t hit Dietrich! Please! Aaah! Please!”

Unsuppressed gasps burst out. Her ragged breaths inevitably brought tears.

Tears flowed ceaselessly from her reddened eyes. At some point, Roelia was simply sobbing aloud.

“Diet, Diet! Let go, let go of me! Let gooo!”

But no matter how much Roelia struggled and screamed, they didn’t even blink. She would have rather they glared at her so she could meet their eyes and plead, but they wouldn’t even look at her.

Grief was as sharp as a blade’s tip, and rage burned her insides like boiling water.

The taste of iron came from her throat as she screamed with fury.

‘I don’t want to be dragged away. No. I don’t want to die! I don’t want to be taken like this!’

Sharp rage and sorrow, as if tearing her heart apart, made her explode.

At that moment, she heard the fluttering of butterfly wings in her dizzying mind.

*Flutter…*

Just as she heard the sound of thousands of butterflies flying from her heart to her head, her body began to emit a strange fragrance, piercing through the herbal aura.

The knights, their faces hardened by the unexpectedly violent resistance and the foul stench, halted in their tracks.

“A sudden swarm of butterflies in the middle of the night…?”

One, two, three, four… Butterflies came flying in from all directions, from places unknown.

Starting with just a few, they quickly multiplied into dozens, then hundreds, flying above the knights’ heads.

The mysterious butterflies, emitting a hazy light, were beautiful yet somehow sent a chill down the spine.

Hugo, staring at the swarm of butterflies flying overhead, narrowed his eyes. He immediately commanded the knights.

“These aren’t just ordinary butterflies. Everyone, stay sharp!”

But as if a step too late, the knights who had been looking up at the butterflies began to have their gazes cloud over. An indescribably elegant fragrance wafted through the fluttering wings.

For a moment, the knights closed their eyes, savoring the scent that warmly embraced their hearts. Their hearts began to pound violently.

“What is this, why… why does it feel so… sad?”

Midas was the first to react.

The man with a rather fierce appearance, despite his rough gaze, was surprisingly prone to tears. Tears streamed down from his reddened eyes.

“Ah, fuck, why am I crying…”

The man, who had been blankly staring into space, suddenly burst into sobs, tears streaming down. Curses spilled from his lips, but he couldn’t control his emotions and continued to cry.

The other knights were similarly affected. As if bewitched by the butterflies’ dance, they all stared up at the sky, dazed.

Beatrix, who had repeatedly shaken his head with a hardened expression to shake off the residual sadness, eventually clenched his eyes shut, clutching his forehead.

The shoulders of the knights, who had fought demons and survived battlefields, always pushing forward no matter what, fell listlessly.

The butterflies’ dance grew more extravagant, and the fragrance spreading on their wings grew thicker.

Amidst the suddenly helpless knights, Roelia, who had been at a loss, suddenly came to her senses.

She didn’t know how she had done it, but this was clearly the power of the ‘Flona.’ The very power she had cursed was now helping her.

Simultaneously with the thought that this was her chance, she ran toward the fallen Dietrich.

“Diet!”

Dietrich, who had been half-dazed, snapped his eyes open at Roelia’s call.

He reached out toward his sister without even thinking to wipe his bloodied face.

“Let’s go.”

“Your eyes, your eyes are…”

“Run!!”

A wound had formed, running from his left eyebrow across his cheek, as if scratched by something. It seemed to be bleeding a lot because the thin skin had been torn.

She was worried, but there was no time to leisurely examine his eyes.

“Where do you think…!”

Beatrix, who had been dazed, seemed to regain some composure and reached out his hand.

At that moment, Dietrich drew the skinning knife at his side and swung it.

“Guh! You bastard!”

It was a knife used to skin animals. Because he always kept it sharp, though small, it was quite lethal at close range.

The moment Beatrix reflexively clutched his torn hand, Dietrich shoved him aside with his shoulder and ran toward the tied horses.

“Hurry, Ella!”

At Dietrich’s cry, Roelia also put strength into her feet. Just as she grabbed her brother’s hand and was about to take a step—

*BANG!*

A sound that shook the very ground, and a blue light flashed through the darkness.

The butterflies that had been rising behind Roelia instantly turned to ash and disappeared, and the thick fragrance that had spread through the forest was also blown away by the wind.

*Clang!*

She felt a sharp sound of metal being hurled toward her. She wanted to turn around at the eerie sensation, but there was no time.

“No, Ella!”

In that instant, Dietrich shoved Roelia’s shoulder. As she staggered and fell to the side, Dietrich leaped into her place.

The iron chain, imbued with divine power and flying at a fierce speed, grazed Roelia’s cheek and arced in a blue trajectory, shooting toward Dietrich.

“……!”

Time seemed to slow down.

She saw the blue chain piercing through Dietrich’s body.

His heart, his shoulder? Or maybe between his heart and shoulder?

“Dietrich!”

She couldn’t tell exactly where, but she knew it had dealt him a fatal blow.

…No, no! No!!!

Tears welled up again in her wide, startled eyes.

She tried to reach out her hands to catch her falling brother, but the chain that had emerged from his body as if alive wrapped around her in an instant.

“Aaah!”

The moment the iron chain imbued with blue divine power bound her, thunder struck in Roelia’s mind.

‘Diet…’

Beyond her blurring vision, she saw Dietrich’s face, his chest pierced, turning deathly pale. She wanted to call her brother’s name, but her lips wouldn’t move.

Roelia’s unconscious body was falling toward the ground.